High Noon
by Beth6787
Summary: By popular request a sequel to "Time's Up". So, just how DID that conversation in the Ready Room go and did the Admiral's gambit pay off...?...


Beth6787

December 2017

High Noon

By popular request a sequel to 'Time's Up'. So just how DID that conversation in the Ready Room go and did the Admiral's gambit pay off..?...

Chakotay strode through the door "You asked to see me Captain?"

Kathryn looked at the man she loved and had wronged so many times. Apparently several that she had no direct memories of. She had cringed inwardly as she watched the Admiral's holo-recording on the PADD and could not quite believe that she was watching herself. Then she remembered the Equinox, the Hirogen, the void they had travelled through. The list went on and on. No wonder Chakotay had finally given up on her and sought solace elsewhere. If it hadn't been Seven it would have been someone else. Anyone, in fact, that would show him a little affection and compassion. She had called him into the Ready Room, desperate to apologise and make amends. Now that he was standing in front of her, looking rather impatient, she had absolutely no idea where to begin. She needed to buy herself some time "Commander, no Chakotay. Please take a seat."

He did so but made a point of glancing at the wall chronometer before turning his attention back to her. "Captain, we are inundated with urgent tasks, having only settled into orbit twenty minutes ago. Could we keep this brief, whatever THIS is." He was not going to make this easy for her, but then she didn't really blame him.

"I need to show you a holo-recording and some artefacts from the past that Admiral Janeway left in my desk drawer before she departed for the hub. I have only just discovered them and they relate to several episodes of temporal incursons that Voyager made so the logs were encrypted. We, none of us, will have direct memories of these events, but one was pivotal. For us, you and I. So much so that the Admiral made a detour to 20th May 2375 to retrieve a very significant artefact to her. This is what she gave me and the vid message that precedes it." Kathryn flipped her monitor round for Chakotay and replayed the Admiral's message to her. She then handed him the PADD and the carved box containing the watch.

She sat quietly whilst he absorbed all the information. Chakotay eventually looked at her "So, Admiral Janeway regretted the decisions she made in her life. It would seem she had many such regrets but I fail to see why you have shown me this? It changes nothing in the here and now. She chose to regret her treatment of me yet she sends this to you. She said nothing directly to me, either whilst she was with us on Voyager, nor has she left me a message since our return. What is it you want from me Kathryn?"

So he was not going to make this at all easy for her. Even now. Time to eat humble pie ! "I suppose I am asking for your forgiveness and hoping that I still have your friendship and respect, even ...love?"

"Captain, you will always have my respect as my commanding officer. Maybe, one day, our friendship will become as it once was. But my love - you dare to ask me that!? I am assuming that you have heard, through the grapevine" with this he looked pointedly at her "that I have been on a few dates with Seven? Yes, that's true. It's very early days and now that we are back home, I've really no idea how life will play out. But if you are asking me to abandon her, to ease your guilty conscience, forget it. We have been skirting around your damn 'parameters' for the last five and a half years. You blow hot and cold as it suits you. Keeping me at arms length most of the time and then reeling me in with glimmers of hope when it is to your advantage. Well I have had enough of that treatment. More than enough. I'm fifty years old, half a century of my life has passed and what do I have to show for it? Nothing concrete. No wife, no family to speak of, no promise of any concrete future. So I decided a couple of months back to change all that. Take control of my destiny. Then out of the blue, along came Seven/Annika. She has been on a similar journey and knows what it is like to have nothing and no one to call her own. Yes, she is considerably younger than me, but has lived a thousand lifetimes with all the experiences she has assimilated. She knows what it is to be an outsider, to truly suffer in a way you cannot. Before Voyager your life was pretty gilded. Born into a high ranking Starfleet family, close friends, family and a fiancé all waiting back home for you and most of them here to celebrate your return as the proverbial heroine. You will be feted as ever. Both Seven and I have had mixed feelings to say the least. The AQ and Earth hold no great appeal to us. Seven may sometimes be tactless due to her limited time learning the nuances of adult human relationships and dialogue. But she would never be intentionally cruel. You can be. Have been, as this recording of Admiral Janeway's so spectacularly highlights. So, no, I do not see what you hope to gain by showing me this and , frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. Now if you have nothing further that you need me for I have a mountain of pre-disembarkation tasks to see to." He stood as though to leave.

Kathryn was numb, she managed to gather her wits just enough to squeak out "Dismissed." to Chakotay's back before the Ready Room door closed behind him. She had known that she needed to apologise to him. That he may not make it easy for her but not this... For want of a better word he seemed to hold her in contempt. There was certainly no love left and precious little sign that their friendship could be salvaged. She had lost him for good. She felt her tears welling up and clasped the watch in her hand. She idly flipped it over then caught her breath as she read the inscription on the back "May 20th, 2375. To Kathryn, with all of my love, always xx. Remember, we will make it home together."

She felt her world crumbling around her. It was too late, here, now in October 2378. She had lost him for good but on that date he had still loved her the way she loved him. Somehow she had to find a way back and change the events of that day. If the Admiral had managed it, so could she. Only this time she would not be making a holo-recording, she would be substituting herself for THAT Kathryn who had destroyed everything. This time she would respond to his gift the way she felt in her heart. Temporal Prime Directives And Starfleet Protocols be damned!

She beamed out to her quarters and uploaded the specs for the portable cloak and the temporal matrix. She could have both installed in the Flyer by tomorrow morning if she worked all night. It would be quicker with B'Elanna's help but as she had just given birth that option was not on the table. She then beamed back to the Ready Room. Made the expected ship wide address and made all the initial preliminary calls necessary to HQ, asking to be allowed to address most issues in the morning. Feigning exhaustion after the journey through the transwarp aperture and Borg sphere etc. Luckily the Admiralty were more than happy to give her a few hours to recouperate . Or so they thought. She spent from 2200hours to 0430 rigging up both the temporal matrix and cloaking technology. They were crude in comparison to what the Admiral had available to her 26 years ahead, but they would suffice for one brief mission. That's all she needed. It would be a one way journey so she really hoped the timeline would reset. If not, the Federation News Service would have plenty to keep them occupied with the strange disappearance of Captain Janeway on the night she turns her ship home. Better not to dwell on it and get on with the mission.

She remotely opened the launch bay doors and piloted the Delta Flyer out of sensor range of Voyager, using the dark side of Earth's moon as cover. She then initiated holo program Janeway 125X which was a covert operation in case the ship was boarded by hostile forces that she had designed with Tuvok almost as soon as they had arrived in the DQ. As programmed, a holo-projection of the Flyer appeared back in the hangar dock, the computer registered the bio-signature of the Captain as being asleep in her quarters and all logs since she had arrived on the Flyer at 2200 the previous night we forged. She had covered her tracks as best she could. Now for the gamble of a lifetime. She braced herself as she engaged the tachyon surge and embraced her destiny.

She had made it. Time index 1130 hours, May 20th 2375. Half an hour until that fateful exchange. She manoeuvred the Flyer directly underneath Voyager and programmed a parallel course, matching the mother ship's orientation and speed. Voyager was so damaged in this timeframe that the chances of the shuttle being detected right underneath them were negligible. She engaged the personal cloak, one hour's power at most and transported to the Bridge. Her slightly younger self was there alone, attempting to coax life into the helm controls from the looks of things. She was not looking forward to the next part of the operation but it was necessary. She decloaked and her younger self swung around reaching for her phaser but Kathryn was faster. "Sorry Captain" she said as she stunned her "but I need to stop you making a dreadful mistake". With that she dragged her younger self into the Ready Room, laid her on the couch then locked the door. Kathryn had hacked her hair short the night before and now tore her uniform and slapped some grease and dust from the Bridge onto herself. Satisfied that she looked the part she hurried back to where the birthday girl had been rearranging the guts of the flight control console. Then, high noon on the dot, Chakotay approached her.

"Happy Birthday" he said and extended his hand towards her. This time she stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him, giving him her full attention. She smiled "you remembered, even with all this chaos around us. For me?" As she went to take the carefully wrapped parcel. He had found some tissue paper, torn and dirty but had taped it together to protect whatever the gift was. "Who else?" He said with an endearing smile. She opened it, doing her best to look suprised "Oh, Chakotay, it's beautiful." "It's a replica of the one owned by another Captain who got his ship home against almost insurmountable odds. Do you have time for the story?"

"For you, Chakotay., always." She sat, rivetted to the spot, absorbing every word and really hearing it all. The surface story, the meaning he hoped to convey and all the subtexts buried within. Then she attached the watch to her waistband and took both his hands. "Thank you Chakotay. For this, today of all days. For always thinking of others, for putting me first, no matter what. You are my one, true friend and I love you more than I can say." With that she leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips, smiled coyly, then said "I'd better get back to this before 'Lanna and Harry arrive, wondering why no connection signal has appeared in Engineering! Tea in what's left of my Ready Room this evening?" He smiled at her "That's the best offer I've had all year. It's a date." Before he headed out to wherever he was needed next on the ship.

Kathryn crossed her fingers and hoped that the mission was accomplished. She quickly activated the cloaking device again and went into the Ready Room. The Captain was where she had left her on the couch. She beamed her younger self to the Flyer with her, reset the temporal matrix to just before she was due to ram the Krenim timeship. She placed the watch onto the waistband of what was left of the younger Captain's uniform and beamed them both to the Bridge. Younger Kathryn came round in her command chair and looked in horror at the viewport. All that was left was a rapidly failing force field showing her the Krenim ship she was about to ram and another version of herself standing just in front. "Sorry, no time to explain Captain, but you and I are just about to reset history for the better. Time's Up !" Shouted the apparition then all was oblivion.

Kathryn Janeway found herself sitting in her command chair having just emerged from the Borg sphere. Chakotay was sitting next to her. He smiled and reached out to her and she took his hand as he said "We made it Kathryn. Together. Welcome Home."

THE END

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